Jury rehears instructions in Philly abortion clinic trial

Cracks run through a logo on Dr. Kermit Gosnell's former facility, the Women's Medical Society, in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 where prosecutors allege he killed five people, including a patient and four viable babies allegedly born alive. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

(Updated at 12:46 p.m.) PHILADELPHIA — Jurors weighing murder charges against a Philadelphia abortion provider are being reinstructed on the legal distinctions between murder, manslaughter and infanticide.

The jury was in its fourth full day of deliberations Monday in Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s capital murder case. Jurors appear friendly toward each other, but focused.

Gosnell is accused of killing four babies allegedly born alive at his clinic. He is also charged in a patient’s 2009 overdose death.

The jury must also weigh hundreds of abortion-law violations, alleging he performed third-trimester abortions and failed to counsel patients.

Advertisement

Co-defendant Eileen O’Neill, Gosnell’s former employee, is charged with billing as a doctor when she did not have a license.

With about two dozen reporters in the courtroom, the judge has also reminded jurors to avoid media coverage of the case.

EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORY

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia jury is scheduled to start a fourth full day of deliberations in the case of a Philadelphia abortion provider charged with multiple counts of murder.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, is charged with killing four babies allegedly born alive at his clinic in West Philadelphia. He also is charged in the 2009 overdose death of a patient, Karnamaya Mongar of Woodbridge, Va., a 41-year-old mother of three.

The clinic served mostly low-income women and teens, and went years without a state inspection. Gosnell also faces hundreds of abortion-law violations, for allegedly performing third-trimester abortions and failing to counsel patients.

Co-defendant Eileen O’Neill, meanwhile, is charged with billing as a doctor when she did not have a license. O’Neill, 56, of Phoenixville, is free on bail.

Eight people who worked for Gosnell at the clinic have pleaded guilty since the 2011 indictment, and all but Gosnell’s wife testified against him. Four others have pleaded guilty to murder charges for either “snipping” the babies with scissors after they were born, or helping sedate Mongar despite a lack of training.

The jury, scheduled to return Monday morning, has sat through nearly two months of graphic testimony and arguments. The seven women and five men were selected after assuring Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart that they could be fair despite the difficult subject matter.

The jurors include people who work for the city water department and regional transit authority, and appear to range in age from their 20s to 60s.

Gosnell’s lawyer insists there were no live births at the clinic, and blames Mongar’s death on unforeseen medical complications. O’Neill’s lawyer has argued that she worked under Gosnell’s supervision.

Gosnell has been in custody since the 2011 grand jury report that led to the charges.